The bobbin rack for under-threal machines



April 1970 H. KRlKORlAN 3,506,215

UNDER-THREAD BOBBIN RACK FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed NOV. .24. 1967 INVENTOR Hovhunnes KR K RIAN ATTORNEY 3,506,215 UNDER-THREAD BOBBIN RACK FOR SEWING MACHINES Hovhannes Krikorian, Rue Chabanais, Paris, France Filed Nov. 24, 1967, Ser. No. 685,410 Claims priority, application France, Nov. 25, 1966,

Int. Cl. B02c 9/04, /00, 19/00 U.S. Cl. 242-134 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a rack for supporting underthread bobbins of sewing machines and more particularly to a rack adapted to receive the bobbins on spindles pivotally mounted on the rack to permit the quick removal of the bobbins therefrom without any risk of entangling the threads.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is current practice for sewing machine operators to stack under-thread bobbins in the drawer of the r machines.

It is well known that this practice leads to the entanglement of the unwound thread portions which must therefore be cut off in order to free the bobbin to be subsequently used in the machine.

In addition to the resulting loss of material, elementary time calculations proves that this inconvenience constitutes a time loss of at least half a minute, thus increasing the time period normally required for replacing a bobbin of one color with another bobbin, or substituting an empty bobbin for a full one. Furthermore, this loss of time is increased up to at least one minute when a bobbin of a given color must be selected among many bobbins disposed at random.

A known solution to this problem consists in providing on the sewing machine, either near the table thereof or as a substitute for the bobbin carrier spindle, a vertical or slightly inclined rack supporting a plurality of bobbin spindles (as in the case of the device shown and described in the US, Patent No. 2,940,685 of June 14, 1960 to Glass). Now admittedly this solution proved to be as unsatisfactory as the one mentioned hereinabove; in fact, when the bobbin spindles are disposed in a vertical or slightly inclined plane, the threads are not prevented from depending by gravity and engaging each other until they become entangled.

The applicant thus came to the conclusion that only the normal horizontal position of the bobbin spindles could be satisfactory as it minimizes the risk of thread entanglement. However, in this case the arrangement must be such that the operator can easily insert the spindle through the bobbin center while the spindle is held in a vertical position; it therefore appeared that the best solution was to provide means capable of giving two spindle positions, that is, a vertical position just before the bobbin is slipped on the spindle and a horizontal position for storage purposes, it being understood that only simple and economical means should be used for holding the spindle in said vertical position.

A completely different approach to this problem was made in the U.S. Patent No 2,036,035 of March 31, 1936, to Giallanza, wherein a bobbin carrier having its spindle normally disposed in the horizontal position can be set substantially at 45 for engaging the bobbin thereon. This spindle is retained in its two end positions by a push member urged by a spring against a cam formed on the spindle itself. However, this obviously extremely in- United States Patent O "ice genious arrangement is not applicable to bobbin carriers for racks of this character must be capable of receiv ng at least twelve bobbins and therefore, from the economical point of view, the use of such complicated locking means is not advisable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The bobbin carrier rack according to this invention, which comprises two parallel lateral members, a plurality of bobbin-supporting spindles or pins having one end pivotally connected to one of said lateral members and resting with the other end in a corresponding notch formed in the other lateral member, each spindle being movable angularly in a vertical plane from a horizontal position to a vertical position, is characterized in that said pivotal connection is disposed externally of the lateral member provided therewith in relation to the other lateral member, and that a stop is formed above each pivotal connection with a view to limit to a substantially vertical position the permissible angular movement of the spindle from its horizontal position.

In order to afford a clearer understanding of this invention and of the manner in which the same may be carried out in practice, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawing illustrating diagrammatically by way of example typical and preferred forms of embodiment of the bobbin carrier rack constituting the subjectmatter of the invention. In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a rectilinear-type bobbin rack disposed at the end of a sewing-machine table;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view of the rack shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic plan view from above of a circular track, and

FIGURES 4 and 5 are diagrammatic views showing two different mountings of the circular rack of FIG- URE 3.

Referring first to FIGURES 1 and 2 the rack according to this invention comprises a pair of parallel lateral members 1 and 2 which are either rectilinear (FIGURE 1) or circular (FIGURE 3). The bobbin supporting spindles 3 are pivotally mounted on one of these members, for example member 2 in the example illustrated.

Thus, these spindles are movable from a substantially vertical position A, in which the bobbin 4 can be slipped thereon, to a substantially horizontal position B in which the free end of spindles 3 engages the top edge of the other lateral member 1, or corresponding notches 1a formed at spaced intervals along this edge.

Advantageously, the lateral members 1 and 2 consist of the parallel wings of a U-sectioned element, the wing in which the spindles are pivotally mounted having an outer extension 5 bent at right angles thereto which can be used for securing the rack to the top or bottom surface of the table T of the sewing machine.

The pivotal mounting of each spindle is extremely simple and may be as follows:

In the lateral member 2 and its perpendicular extension 5 a plurality of apertures 2a extending on either side of the fold line or corner are formed. Each bobbin spindle or pin 3 has a small diametral hole formed through one of its ends. A fixed pivot pin 6 disposed externally of and parallel to the lateral member 2 is fitted through the holes of the different spindles to constitute a hinge pin. Advantageously, all the pivot pins 6 may consist of a single member such as a steel wire welded at two or more points along the lateral member 2.

The angle notch 2a is so dimensioned that its upper bottom 2b acts as a stop to the spindle 3 when the latter is raised to its vertical position A, a preferred arrange- 3 ment consisting in so positioning said bottom 2b that when the spindle is erected it lies slightly beyond the 90-degree position A illustrated.

The applicant also found that the circular form of embodiment (FIGURE 3) is advantageous with a view not only to keep a greater number of bobbins in a relatively reduced space, but also to facilitate the quick laying and removal of the bobbins.

In this arrangement the circular rack is rotatably mounted on a central pivot pin 7 consisting either of the conventional bobbin spindle extending through its base (see FIGURE 4), or of a pin rigid with a support or base member, an alternative arrangement consisting (FIG- URE 5) in securing this rack by means of a screw 9 to the top or bottom surface of the table T of the sewing machine.

What I claim as new is:

1. A rack for supporting the under-thread bobbins of sewing machines, which comprises two parallel members, bobbin spindles having one end pivotally connected to one of said members and bearing with their other end in a notch formed in the other member, said spindles being each adapted to pivot in a vertical plane from a substantially horizontal position to a substantially vertical position and vice versa, the means for pivotally connecting each spindle to said one member disposed externally of said one member with respect to the other member parallel thereto, and stop means to limit the permissible angular movement of said spindles.

2. A rack as set forth in claim 1, wherein said one member supporting said connecting means has an outer extension bent at right angles thereto, that is in a direction opposed to said other parallel member, said one member having notches formed therein which extend on either side of the corner between said one member and said extension, the bottom of said notch which lies in said extension constituting said stop means for limiting the vertical bobbin-receiving position of said spindle in order to retain said spindle in this position during the insertion and removal of the bobbin on and from said spindle.

3. A rack as set forth in claim 2, wherein said pivotally connecting means consists of a pivot pin extending through a transverse hole formed in the spindle portion projecting externally of said one member.

4. A rack as set forth in claim 3, wherein all the axis of said pivot pins are aligned and said pins consist of a single metal wire passing through all the holes of the spindles mounted on the rack.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS LEONARD D. CHRISTIAN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

